BUDGET CUTS $136 MILLION FROM TASMANIAN SCHOOLS …

… AND ABANDONS STUDENTS WITH DISABILITY

Tasmanian students are the big losers from the Federal Budget which fails to deliver funding for the fifth and sixth years of Gonski and denies students with disability the vital support they need.

AEU Tasmanian Branch President Terry Polglase said that this is a budget of “no hope and zero vision” for Tasmanian education.

“Tasmania will not be getting the $136 million in 2018 and 2019 because of Tony Abbott’s failure to honour the last two years of the needs-based Gonski funding reforms,” said Mr Polglase.
“The Gonski funding model must be implemented if we are not to fall further behind in our international rankings. Nothing else will lead to an improvement and this budget provides no hope and zero vision.”

Mr Polglase says students living with disability in Tasmanian schools are particularly hard hit and will not receive the desperately needed funding they were promised. Many more students with disability will continue to receive no support at all.

“The Abbott Government promised before the 2013 election that it would implement the full disability loading in 2015 and this has not been delivered,” said Mr Polglase.

“Christopher Pyne claims of ‘a record $1.3 billion being provided in 2015–16, and more than $5 billion over 2014–17 through the funding loading for students with a disability’ is nothing more than a rollover of temporary indexation,” he said.

Will Hodgman signed a Gonski pledge to fight hard for Tony Abbott to deliver the resources our students need but so far all we’ve seen are cuts and broken promises.

“The Federal Budget entrenches cuts and disadvantage in Tasmanian schools and Mr Hodgman needs to step up and explain what he’s going to do to fix this raw deal for our students most in need,” said Mr Polglase.
AEU Tasmanian Branch President Terry Polglase